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BLOCKADE OF JELLALABAD,

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Akbar Khan at the head of a large force, in the vicinity of Jellalabad. He placed the town in a state of blockade, intercepting supplies and cutting off foraging parties, but refraining from any regular assault. The garrison soon began to suffer severely on account of the scarcity of provisions, the troops being on half rations, with little hope of obtaining speedy relief. Sir Robert Sale, therefore, resolved to attack the enemy's camp, and, if possible, break up their blockade. The attempt proved successful: the Afghans were driven from their entrenchments, and two standards with four guns, recently taken from the Cabool army, remained in possession of the conquerors. The latter, however, lost one of their bravest officers, the gallant Colonel Dennie, who had honourably distinguished himself on various occasions during this perilous expedition.

Meanwhile, the term of Lord Auckland's government being expired, he was succeeded by Lord Ellenborough, who had been from its very commencement strongly opposed to the Afghan war. On reaching Calcutta, the new ruler found himself obliged to deal at once with the disastrous results of that unfortunate campaign. The question of the British tenure of Afghanistan had been already settled, if not formally, at least by the expressed opinions of the ablest politicians of the day. All agreed that to maintain an English force in that country, or to invade it afresh with a view to a permanent occupation, would be no less impolitic than unjust. Some doubts, however, existed as to whether the governor-general should or should not visit the Afghan chiefs with that punishment which their treachery and inhumanity so richly merited. Those who advocated this measure were opposed by others, who thought that Government would do better to rescue the captives, either by ransom or negotiation, and give up all idea of chastisement, the infliction of which might be productive of further disasters and a greater loss of life,

While these considerations engaged the attention of politicians in England and India, Shah Sujah continued for a short time to exercise undisturbed his regal authority at Cabool. He was now, however, the mere instrument of the chiefs, possessing only nominal power, and obliged to lend his sanction to any measure emanating from the majority. To Akbar Khan had been committed the arduous, though honourable office of besieging Jellalabad; but he found himself unable to make the slightest impression upon its gallant defenders, while the jealousy of his rivals at the capital deprived him of the necessary ammunition and supplies. In the mean

time the English prisoners were placed in the charge of Zeman Khan, from whom they received a kindness truly paternal. Though warmly attached to his country, and firmly persuaded that the English invasion was an aggression upon its independence, he disapproved of the treacherous designs entertained by the other chiefs, and severely reprobated the cruelties practised during the retreat. His decided and manly avowal of these opinions affords a strong contrast to the ambiguous conduct of Shah Sujah, who openly denounced the Europeans as tyrants and infidels, while he secretly corresponded with their agents in India.

Finally, the duplicity of the king led to his destruction. The chiefs, suspecting his sincerity, and having perhaps obtained information of his intrigues, required that he should march at the head of a select body of men, to press more vigorously the siege of Jellalabad. When their wishes were first made known to him, the Shah, believing his person would be in danger, refused to leave his capital: but being ultimately terrified into an unwilling consent, he quitted Cabool on the 4th of April. His suspicions proved too well founded. Α Barukzye noble, the son of Zeman Khan, had placed an ambush by the way-side, and as the royal retinue approached the concealed marksmen poured upon them

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a volley of juzails, which killed on the spot both Shah Sujah and the principal persons of his suite. The body lay in state for some days, and the murder called forth all the marks of external respect and loyal regret, the punishment of death by stoning having been formally pronounced against its perpetrators. Owing, however, to the unquiet nature of the times, and the numerous persons implicated in the conspiracy, these villains escaped, as might have been anticipated, the extreme penalties of the law.

The bold resistance of Sale at Jellalabad, and the successful opposition offered to the Afghans by General Nott in Candahar, were slightly counterbalanced by the loss of Ghuznee. Colonel Palmer, the commandant, finding his garrison gradually diminished by the rigours of the climate and the want of water, surrendered his post to the Afghan chieftain, Shems-ood-deen. The enemy behaved, however, on this occasion with customary bad faith, the men being relentlessly slaughtered, and some of the officers put to the torture. Kelat-iGhilzye, under the brave Craigie, continued to hold out until the advance of the British army enabled its defenders to evacuate the place with safety and without dishonour.

While the isolated corps in Afghanistan looked eagerly for reinforcements to their countrymen on the other side of the Indus, Brigadier England was advancing from Sindh, by way of Dadar and Quettah. He encountered subsequently a strong body of Afghans near the village of Hykubzye, who repulsed the attack made upon them, and finally compelled the English commander to fall back. The intelligence of this disastrous event reaching India, suspended for a short time the determination of the governor-general: but eventually Lord Ellenborough sanctioned the advance of Generals Pollock and Nott.

The former commenced the passage of the Khyber

Pass early in March, and reached Jellalabad on the 16th of April, greatly to the satisfaction of the "illustrious garrison," who had almost begun to despair of ever being relieved. Meanwhile General Nott had been honourably distinguishing himself in Western Afghanis tan. At the time of the Cabool massacre, the tranquillity existing in these regions presented so striking a contrast to the excitement prevalent elsewhere, that Colonel Maclaren's brigade was on the point of returning to India. Pressing entreaties for assistance from Sir William Macnaghten and General Elphinstone occasioned this movement to be countermanded, and Colonel Maclaren, with Captain Hart, prepared for a march on Cabool, the brigade being strengthened by the addition of several Afghan auxiliary corps. Owing to the inclemency of the weather, however, the advance was suspended, and General Nott soon found it necessary, in consequence of the spread of the rebellion, to concentrate all his outlying divisions at the town of. Candahar.

Mohammed Atta Khan arrived soon after from Cabool, for the purpose of inciting the Western tribes to take up arms against the English. He was soon after joined by Sufter Jung, a son of Shah Sujah, whom ambition, avarice, or Mohammedan bigotry, had induced to oppose vigorously his father's allies. The name of a member of the royal house added strength to the cause, and gained over the whole of the Shah's troops, so that the enemy being now in considerable force ventured to take the initiative, and occupied a strong position in the vicinity of Candahar. They soon had occasion to repent of their temerity, for General Nott, sallying forth at the head of his best troops, drove them from their position, and completely broke up their force. After this the insurgents remained quiet for a short time: but the intelligence of the Cabool massacre inspiring them with fresh courage, they again assailed the English position, and having

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drawn off General Nott and the majority of his forces from the immediate vicinity of Candahar, they obtained in this manner partial possession of the town. The remnant of the garrison, however, who remained within the walls, defended their post so gallantly that the rebels were not only unable to maintain their ground, but found themselves compelled to retreat, leaving behind them nearly a thousand men killed and wounded.

On the 9th of May General England, moving up from Quettah, effected a junction with Nott at Candahar. One of the first measures taken after this reinforcement arrived, was the rescue of the garrison at Khelat-i-Ghiljie, which Colonel Wymer effected with some difficulty. The absence of this detachment induced Sufter Jung and Mohammed Atta to make another attack upon Candahar, an enterprise that ended in the total defeat of 8,000 Afghans by 1,200 British troops. The loss sustained on this occasion so much discouraged the enemy, that Sufter Jung and the majority of his chiefs deemed it advisable to send in their adhesion to the British Government.

On the 8th of August the English abandoned Candahar, General England's corps returning to India by way of Quettah, while Nott moved northwards, to unite his forces with those of Pollock at Cabool. On his march, he defeated a large army of Afghans, near Ghuznee, and recovered that city from the hands of the enemy. The retaliation exacted on this occasion seems severe, but the Afghans had drawn it down upon themselves by torturing British officers, and butchering defenceless prisoners, who, in surrendering, placed themselves under the protection of the laws of war. Part of the town having been mined, was exploded by gunpowder, while the flames kindled by the victors consumed the rest.

Nor did the relics of past ages escape uninjured. The tomb of Mahmoud of Ghuznee, one of the earliest Mohammedan conquerors of Hindoostan, stood near the